With CAA expressing interest, Elon weighs options on league affiliation

By Adam Smith / Times-News

Published: Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 12:47 AM.

Those fact-finding talks, as Blank termed them, delved into, among other things, the unsettled nature of the Southern Conference, which is losing College of Charleston to the CAA this summer and Appalachian State (to the Sun Belt), Georgia Southern (to the Sun Belt) and Davidson (to the Atlantic 10) after the 2013-14 academic year.

“If anybody is going to consider moving to another conference, they’re going to do a lot of research to make sure it’s the right thing for their institution,” Blank said. “And in considering what’s going on with the Southern Conference right now, that’s part of our dialogue.

“It’s not specifically tied to a move or not. It’s what’s everybody’s reaction to all the possibilities — ‘Stay in the Southern Conference? Go somewhere else? What’s the Southern Conference going to do?’ — just general discussion to have our constituents informed on what’s going on with conference affiliation in general.”

Elon, then a Division I newcomer in its fourth year, left the Big South and joined the Southern Conference in 2003.

Should an offer from the CAA materialize, the ultimate decision on Elon’s end would rest with Lambert and the school’s board of trustees, which meets biannually in March and October. Significant issues can be and are handled via teleconferences among its executive committee.

“So it’s not like they would have to wait for the next meeting,” Anderson said. “They do business throughout the year on a regular basis.”

The Colonial Athletic Association has approached Elon University in conversations that could lead to the Phoenix leaving the Southern Conference.

No invitation has been extended to join the CAA, which stretches from UNC Wilmington to Northeastern in Boston among its full-time membership — and even further north to Maine in football.

But Elon is doing more than listening, with dialogue on the subject intensifying around campus and school leaders investigating the ramifications of such a move.

“Elon is looking at its conference affiliation and evaluating what is in the best long-term interest of the university,” school spokesman Dan Anderson said. “It’s important for us to keep all of our constituents apprised of the fact that the university is looking at this seriously.

“We’re looking at all the options that might be available to the university, which schools might be in which conferences. That takes some time to study and to think through, and we’re going through that process now.”

That process has included Elon president Leo Lambert presenting and discussing the matter at the school’s May faculty meeting. Lambert also conducted a similar get-together with the school’s student government association.

Elon athletics director Dave Blank met with the school’s student-athlete advisory committee, a group comprised of two representatives from each of the Phoenix’s 17 teams.

Those fact-finding talks, as Blank termed them, delved into, among other things, the unsettled nature of the Southern Conference, which is losing College of Charleston to the CAA this summer and Appalachian State (to the Sun Belt), Georgia Southern (to the Sun Belt) and Davidson (to the Atlantic 10) after the 2013-14 academic year.

“If anybody is going to consider moving to another conference, they’re going to do a lot of research to make sure it’s the right thing for their institution,” Blank said. “And in considering what’s going on with the Southern Conference right now, that’s part of our dialogue.

“It’s not specifically tied to a move or not. It’s what’s everybody’s reaction to all the possibilities — ‘Stay in the Southern Conference? Go somewhere else? What’s the Southern Conference going to do?’ — just general discussion to have our constituents informed on what’s going on with conference affiliation in general.”

Elon, then a Division I newcomer in its fourth year, left the Big South and joined the Southern Conference in 2003.

Should an offer from the CAA materialize, the ultimate decision on Elon’s end would rest with Lambert and the school’s board of trustees, which meets biannually in March and October. Significant issues can be and are handled via teleconferences among its executive committee.

“So it’s not like they would have to wait for the next meeting,” Anderson said. “They do business throughout the year on a regular basis.”

Blank said: “These things are at the presidential level, and that’s all fine and well.”

Sources have told the Times-News that Lambert recently spoke with Jonathan Alger, president of James Madison, a CAA member, about a number of issues pertaining to a possible move, from travel costs to scheduling.

If the door opens, how seriously is Elon considering jumping to the CAA?

“If anybody tells you it’s a done deal, they’re wrong. The decision has not been made,” another source said. “But the conversations and the dialogue are very intense.”

The trickle-down effect of league realignment arrived in full on the Southern Conference’s doorstep at this time last year, when the depleted CAA pursued College of Charleston and Davidson, and even spoke with Appalachian State.

Some reports last year mentioned Elon as a potential backup option for the CAA, though the CAA — which, like Elon, competes on the Football Championship Subdivision level — never contacted or reached out to the Phoenix then.

Now, a year later, the Southern Conference is in the process of losing Appalachian State and Georgia Southern, with a combined nine FCS titles between them, Davidson, the league’s premier men’s basketball program, which has participated in five of the last eight NCAA Tournaments, and College of Charleston, perennially strong in men’s basketball and baseball.

Mercer, East Tennessee State and Virginia Military Institute are the top candidates on the Southern Conference’s list of possible additions. Sources have deemed Mercer a veritable lock to be invited to join the league, while opinions remain split on East Tennessee State and VMI, according to sources.

“I would say things have been unstable,” Blank said, referring to the Southern Conference. “The question is, ‘How quickly can things be stabilized?’ As a conference, some decisions have to be made here in a relatively short period of time.

“I don’t know if you could find a conference right now that doesn’t have somebody involved in discussions of some kind with somebody else. We’re in such a country-wide state of flux, maybe everybody’s unstable right now.”